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Explorer

Past stories Living off-the-grid New Brunswick's Saint John River Ontario's Bruce Trail Canadian Ski Marathon Elk Island National Park Rallying for rallysport Montreal - Circus city Beluga Bytes Dawson - a musical adventure Bald Eagle Confederation Trail Boning up on the badlands Ukkusiksalik National Park Geocaching Discover Cypress Hills Saint Joseph's Oratory A walk through Stanley Park Sudbury's science centre Acadia continues Toronto's underground world

Read an excerpt of the January/February '05 Exploration.

Rising out of the gently rolling prairie of Southwest Saskatchewan and Southeast Alberta is a lush plateau of forests, grasslands and wetlands. Called "beautiful highlands" by the Cree and described by John Palliser as "a perfect oasis in the desert," the area was called Cypress Hills by French fur traders, who mistook the lodgepole pines found there for the cypress or jack pines of Quebec.

Cypress Hills are the highest Canadian land elevation east of the Rockies and west of Labrador. It consists of three separate blocks or hills, one in Alberta and two in Saskatchewan. It rises 600 metres above the surrounding plains and is home to freshwater streams and creeks, lakes, forests, rare fescue grasses, meadows, marshlands and ranch lands. People flock here year-round to take advantage of breathtaking trails for cycling, hiking, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing and horse back riding.